Lorenzo Dalla Porta Visits Brno

MOTO3

Posted on: 20 August, 2016

Brno, 20 August 2016:

Italian Moto3 hot-shot Lorenzo Dalla Porta visited the Czech GP to meet with Mahindra and Aspar Mahindra Team representatives to begin discussing the finer details of the 2017 season. Although Dalla Porta already has a number of World Championship races under his belt, a first full season always requires expert planning.

Everyone is hoping to have Dalla Porta riding the MGP3O as soon as possible, but the Aspar Mahindra Team remain fully supportive of his FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship title challenge. There are still many targets for both Dalla Porta and the Aspar Mahindra Team to achieve in 2016 before joining forces for the 2017 campaign.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta "It was a great pleasure to come and meet all of the Aspar Mahindra Team, they are all so knowledgeable and I know we can achieve great things together. I still have some important races to do this year and while I am focused on those, we must also look to the future and begin to prepare. It's an amazing feeling to already be a rider with a whole factory behind me, I hope to do them proud in 2017."

Jorge Martinez, CEO Aspar Team "Lorenzo Dalla Porta is a very promising young rider and we think he will be a good fit in the team. This year we and Mahindra have made a big step and hopefully next year will be the same step again. Dalla Porta will be an important part of the continued growth, we've already seen how strong he is not only in the Junior World Championship but also the World Championship. He should be on the pace straight away."

Andreas Leuthe, Mahindra Racing Head of Alliances & Motorsport Strategy "We are pleased to have Lorenzo Dalla Porta joining the Aspar Mahindra Team for 2017. I have been watching him for a long time and in 2016 he has really developed as a rider in the Junior World Championship; he's ready for the World Championship. His style will suit the MGP3O well and we already saw today he gets on with the team. We're expecting top results and are sure he can deliver them."

About Mahindra Racing

In 2016, Mahindra Racing is competing as a constructor in its fifth year in the Moto3TM class of MotoGPTM and remains the only Indian constructor in the series, having first participated in 2011. Mahindra Racing supplies the Mahindra MGP3O single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 250cc motorcycle to the factory Aspar Mahindra Team and three customer teams. Mahindra also supplies an official Peugeot Motocycles derivative of the MGP3O to the factory Peugeot MC Saxoprint Team.

Mahindra Racing made history in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix taking the first-ever podium for an Indian constructor. The MGP3O recorded top-five finishes in 10 of the 17 rounds in 2013 as well as a pole position, three circuit lap records and third in the constructors' rankings. The 2014 season saw a further three podium finishes for the Indian motorcycle, including second place at the Sachsenring. In 2015, the Mahindra regularly fought at the front of the ultra-competitive Moto3TM class and recorded a podium finish at Le Mans.

2016 got off to a strong start for Mahindra Racing with Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3 rider Francesco (Pecco) Bagnaia securing a third place podium finish at the opening round in Qatar. The podiums continued in Jerez and Mugello before Pecco made history with victory in Assen, Mahindra's first in the World Championship. It was a historic day for everyone involved and proved the high level performance capabilities of the MGP3O. As well as its commitment in the World Championship, Mahindra continues to supply MGP3O machines to Team Aspar to compete in World Championship feeder series, the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2016.

Mahindra's bold decision to take on the world's best at the highest level of motorcycle racing has won the team a number of prestigious awards in India, including: the NDTV Car and Bike Awards - 'Mobil 1 Motorsport Award of the Year', 2012 and 2013; the Bike India Magazine - 'Motorsport Award', 2013; and 'ZigWheels Motorsport Award of the Year', 2012. Mahindra also won ‘Racing Bike of the Year' at the Zeeignition Auto Awards, 2016.

In 2015, Mahindra & Mahindra was recognized as the Best Company for CSR in India in a study by the Economic Times. In 2014, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000, a comprehensive listing of the world's largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenue, profit, assets and market value. The Mahindra Group also received the Financial Times 'Boldness in Business' Award in the 'Emerging Markets' category in 2013.